As part of the CNI Forests Collective Settlement, Ngati Tuwharetoa received:
More details around the forest land allocations, accumulated and ongoing rental allocation, NZUs allocation and rights to buy crown assets can be found below.
Under the CNI Forests Collective Settlement, members of the Collective will receive 90% by value of the 176,000 hectares of Crown forest lands in the Central North Island.
A unique feature of the CNI Forests Collective Settlement was the agreement that iwi themselves, rather than the Crown, would decide which pieces of the returned land rightfully belong to each iwi. The land has been transferred as a whole to CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd, which will carry out a process of identifying, discussing and eventually agreeing on respective mana whenua interests. This is known as the mana whenua process.
The accumulated rentals, or “cash” portion of the CNI Forests Collective Settlement, comes to around NZ $250 million. It was transferred to CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd on 1 July 2009, and from there it was transferred out to the individual iwi Post-Settlement Governance Entities (PSGEs) using the agreed financial proportions that were part of the Deed of Settlement.
| Ngai Tuhoe | 26.3125% |
| Ngati Tuwharetoa | 25.9125% |
| Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa | 15.6125% |
| Raukawa | 14.2125% |
| Ngati Manawa | 6.0125% |
| Ngati Whare | 4.7125% |
| Ngati Whakaue | 3.6125% |
| Ngati Rangitihi | 3.6125% |
Each of the iwi also receive a share of the annual rentals from the CNI Forests Land as per their agreed proportions.
Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), forests that were planted before 1990 will incur a large “deforestation liability” if they are harvested and not replanted, or if the forest is converted to another land use. CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd is therefore due to receive an allocation of 3 million New Zealand Units (also known as NZUs or carbon credits) under the ETS, which can be sold for cash on New Zealand and international carbon markets. Since the signing of the settlement there has been a change of Government, and the new Government has decided to review the ETS policy and legislation. The Collective has been making submissions relating to this review, as part of the Iwi Leadership Group.
At this stage, it seems likely that the legislation will still go ahead in some form, although there may be changes to it. Assuming that the legislation does go ahead, the Collective’s 3 million NZUs will be transferred into CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd.
As part of the CNI Forests Collective Settlement, the Collective was granted certain rights to buy Crown properties. The purpose of this was to provide redress that may not be available to iwi via their future comprehensive settlements. For example, Crown properties that are valued above a certain amount, or that are subject to overlapping interests by multiple iwi, would be unlikely to be offered as redress to a single iwi as part of its comprehensive settlement. The Collective’s rights create the possibility of securing such properties, which might not otherwise be available to Collective iwi.
There are two types of rights. Both types give the Collective preferential ways to secure core Crown properties over time.
The first type of right is known as a Deferred Selection Procedure or DSP. The DSP gives the Collective a relatively short-lived opportunity to buy certain Crown properties at values struck in June 2008, whether or not the owners want to sell them.
This creates the possibility of buying Crown properties at a profit (i.e. if the Collective can see that their market values have risen since June 2008). In effect, the Collective can use the DSP to “pick its horses after the race has run”.
The second type of right is known as a Right of First Refusal or RFR. The RFR gives the Collective a relatively long-lived opportunity to be the first to be offered certain Crown properties, if and when the owners decide to sell them.
Having the right of first refusal creates the possibility of buying Crown properties at a profit, if the property is being sold at a good price, or if it can be profitably added to an existing portfolio of properties. Note that any DSP assets that the Collective decides not to buy will still be available through the RFR.
For more information about the two types of rights, please click here